


My Walls Are Down

by sh0tar1s



Category: The Trials of Apollo - Rick Riordan
Genre: Abuse, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Break Up, Cheating, Childhood Trauma, Crying, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Leo Valdez Needs a Hug, Lityerses gives one, M/M, Post-The Trials of Apollo, i hate calypso have fun, leo has more laid back gen z humour, still hyper asf, this ship does not exist to anyone but me, we need more litleo fanfics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-29
Updated: 2020-10-29
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:21:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,631
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27259342
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sh0tar1s/pseuds/sh0tar1s
Summary: Leo was tired of it all. Tired of Calypso constantly putting him down, tired of being hurt all the time.Apparently, Lityerses has an issue with that too.What do they do about it?Or: Leo cheats on Calypso with a certain son of Midas
Relationships: Calypso/Leo Valdez, Hazel Levesque & Leo Valdez, Hazel Levesque & Piper McLean, Hemithea | Emmie/Josephine "Jo", Leo Valdez/Lityerses, Piper McLean & Leo Valdez
Comments: 18
Kudos: 32





	My Walls Are Down

**Author's Note:**

> give the ship more love im begging
> 
> also lityerses age is literally non existent idk how old this man is its NOWHERE but hes been revived and he lived wayyy back so who knows hes about calypso's age
> 
> anyways enjoy xoxo

Leo should've known.

It had always been like this. Calypso, gorgeous, perfect, Calypso and useless, burdensome Leo.

When he would tinker away at his creations and it annoyed her.

'Leo, would you stop that?'

When he would get really excited, he'd get louder. He'd jump around, animatedly ranting about what he was so happy for.

'You're being really annoying right now.'

When he'd frown more that day, maybe his shoulders slouched more and his eyebags were darker. Maybe he wouldn't be able to respond how he usually does, maybe he would nod instead of yell an excited affirmation for the food he loves.

'You need to get out of your rut, there's work to do you know?'

Leo remembered the times when it hadn't hurt so bad.

'Cal!' He ran over to his girlfriend sitting over on the couch  
She had been surfing through channels for 10 minutes now as her break from gardening with Emmie.

Leo plopped down next to her, accidentally knocking over her small bowl of popcorn. 'Oh shit, there goes the snacks,' he laughed.

'Leo, I swear to-' Calypso was going to curse but the boy cut her off, frantically waving his hands.

'Wait wait wait!' He grinned like an idiot and vibrated from his excitement.

The hazel haired girl sighed and crossed her arms, turning to him with a blank expression. 'What?'

'Okay, okay!' Leo readjusted on the couch to stand on his knees. 'Do you remember how I struggled to connect the two parts of that big metallic project I showed you that you called stupid?' He rambled on, hyper actively explaining how he got it all to work, how he did it, what it can do now.

Calypso sighed, 'Leo, can I be honest?'

'Sure thing babe,' he replied, still grinning.

'That's great and all but,' she gave a weak smile. 'You know I don't understand what you're even talking about.'

Leo felt his smile droop, his eyes gazing at the couch instead of Calypso. He knew she didn't get what he meant, very few people did. But that's why he explained it to her, he wanted her to be happy with him. He couldn't figure out why she didn't understand it even when he went so in depth.

'Oh damn,' he found he was forcing himself to laugh. 'Nevermind that! Let's watch a dumb sitcom or something.'

There were times when it hurt more.

'Hey babe,' Leo stepped into Calypso's room after knocking. 

'What's up?' She stared at the papers in front of her as she sat at the white desk he had built for her.

'So I was thinking, do you remember that movie I really liked?' He sat on her bed upside down and kicked his feet up in the air 'You know, the one with kids who are like, totally awesome and super gifted? You know, like one can grow giant carrots out the ground and…'

Again, he trailed off and went on about his love for Mrs.Peregrines Home For Peculiar Children. This movie had actually brought him some sort of joy, a distraction from all the stress he had been under. In the last two months he had been attacked by a total of fifteen monsters. fifteen.

Finding a movie that actually caught his attention and lessened his anxiety about those annoying spawns from tartarus was a miracle. Very quickly, the movie became a hyperfixation.

For weeks now he had talked about each character, obsessed over like five of them, and reenacted a bunch of scenes in the shower. It didn't help his obsession any more knowing one of the characters had fire powers just like him. And another one liked to build, just like him.

And like Calypso, all the peculiar children had been alive for years and years without aging a year. Naturally, he ranted about all these connections all the time.

'Isn't that so cool, Cal?' He sat up on the bed, waiting for her reply.

Nothing came.

'Cal?' Leo turned to see that she hadn't taken her eyes off her paper. 

'Calllll,' he called for her attention but she barely budged.

'Calypso!'

She groaned, spinning around in her chair, she crossed her arms.

'Leo, can't you see I'm busy? It's really important, don't you have someone else to annoy for one minute?'

Leo felt a tang at his heart. She had been brushing off his interest in the movie ever since they watched it a couple weeks back. He knew it was just a movie, that there wasn't anything that important about it. But still, still he just wished she would listen.

It's not like he was telling her about his creations or tools or whatever the hell she didn't know about. He was talking about something she does know, and yet she wouldn't listen to it.

Apparently everything he liked and did was annoying

'Nevermind,' With a sigh, he stood up and walked out the door.

It hurt that she didn't care, she never did.

In present time, Lityerses brought it up.

"Hey leo?" The tan, scarred boy walked into the mechanic's room, shutting the door behind him.

The owner of the room glanced up from his tinkering on his newest creation, flashing a smile at his visitor.

"What's good, dude?"

The older boy smirked, "I see we're matching."

Leo was gonna ask what he was talking about, then he noticed the Reaper of Men's black hair was hiding a black headband underneath. Then, he realised he was wearing a lavender headband himself. He had adopted that style after spending so much time with the other, of course. 'It suits you!' he had insisted.

"Aw shit," he snickered. "sweet!"

"Sweeeett," Lit agreed with a smile, then he cleared his throat, "anyways, I think we need to have a talk," a pause. "dude." He smirked and emphasized the pronunciation on his last word.

Over the last few months the two had gotten close. Yes, Lit had fought him, Jason, and Piper before and then he got turned to gold. And sure he was called The Reaper of Men way back, which, Leo had no clue exactly how old he was. He always forgot, he just knew Lityerses was about Calypso's age which was like, super old years old. He had gotten revived too, so the age was actually pretty confusing. 

Either way, he looked around the same age as Leo, about eighteen or nineteen years old. They also acted pretty much the same, except like most people, the ex-villain was more mature than him. Most of the time. Leo guessed all those years of being reckless and fighting really helped him stay young.

Whatever, Leo thought, all that villain, super menacing swordsman stuff was in the past.

Apollo allowed Lityerses a second chance. Given that second chance, he proved he was actually trustworthy and a good friend if you were on his good side. Thankfully, Leo's on that good side. 

He found that talking to the guy was easy. He didn't have to overthink, didn't have to feel so anxious after every sentence. And even though he made jokes no matter what, he didn't have to joke with him because of awkward tension. They just laughed their asses off together all the time no matter the situation. 

While Jason and Piper and the rest of them were great and all, AND Calypso and everything, Lityerses had a different aura. They could talk about anything, literally anything. 

He was the kind of friend that would talk to you at three am about all his battles, or something less serious like how much that new show on channel 25 sucks.

They had a similar taste in movies, both preferring action, horror, or coming of age films. This made conversations a thousand times easier for Leo.

Very quickly, they were the best of friends. So naturally, the revived dude caught onto some of the modern boy's catch phrases.

One word he hated at first was "Dude." But now he said it ironically and unironically. All the time. ALL the time. It annoyed everyone except the boy who gave him the wretched disease.

"Talk about what?" Leo got off his seat and plopped right on the floor, lying down on his back. Lit took a seat on his bed.

"You and Calypso."

"Huh?" The darker boy shot up, whipping his head around. "Me and Cal? W-what's wrong with us?"

The black haired boy pursed his lips, bopping his head forward. "Youuu...don't have ANY problems with your relationship?"

Leo shook his head, ignoring the voice in his head that was shouting, 'YES! YES I FRICKIN DO!'

"There's nothing wrong," he nervously chuckled, standing up and clapping his hands to get rid of the dust.

"Oh come on," Lit stretched his legs out and rested against the headboard. "I know you, Leo. You can talk to me."

Leo sat down with a sigh, taking off the headband the other had gotten him as a present a month back. He ran a hand through his curly brown locks, flattening the hair to sit properly after having it stick upwards the entire day.

"Talk about what? You know I've been talking a lottttt about dinosaurs these days, actually I was thinking of building one," he trailed off, avoiding the conversation to come. He had no clue what it was gonna be about but his heart was pacing in fear of the unknown topic. Might as well drag it on to mentally prepare himself, right?

Lit smirked, crossing his arms. "You did rebuild festus, he's close to a dinosaur."

"Yeah," He sighed. "But he was already built! I just got him to start working again after patching him up and all,"

"Nothing special?" 

"Nothing special." 

They smiled at each other before the boy with the face scars quickly dropped it, catching Leo off guard.

"Listen," he began, his red hoodie riding up a bit as he shifted to cross his legs. Leo looked away quickly. "I know you've been holding a lot of shit back."

The son of Hephaestus grinned, "I don't know dude, I'm not constipated."

"Bruh shut up," Lit laughed. "I'm usually all for your jokes but I'm serious."

Another phrase he got from Leo. Ever since that one vine went viral and everyone started saying bruh, it didn't leave his vocabulary. And now, it couldn't leave Lit's.

"Okay, okay," Leo crossed his legs too, thankfully his white shirt didn't ride up. "I hold a lot of shit back. What's the issue, though?"

The scarred swordsman took a deep breath.

"I know how upset you get when," he paused. "Calypso insults you."

'God dammit he caught on' he thought to himself.

"Ha," the darker boy rubbed his neck. "Whaaaattt?" 

"Leo," Lit struck him with a pillow. "come on bruh, stop pretending you don't know," he chuckled. "You can talk to me. You have this look on your face every time she says something, well, shitty. Which is often."

Leo sighed and gave up the act. He knew he could talk to him, he KNEW he could. It was just hard when it came to Calypso. Or true feelings. Mixing both was an issue.

But, he tried anyway.

"Yeah, you're right," Lit smiled at that. "it's just," Leo shifted his gaze onto the bedsheets under him before starting his rant.

"She's so mean sometimes. She says things and it just...reminds me of..things," a pause.

"She reminds me of my families sometimes...and Hera."

The older boy tilted his head, "Why?"

Leo stared at him, opening and closing his mouth over and over but no words came out. It was hard enough opening up about Calypso, his foster families who hated him was a different story. Lit knew about his mom, he just didn't know how the other parents had treated him.

Lityerses' face showed concern he didn't receive often. Sure, Emmy and Josephine cared for him, but there was a certain look in the other boy's face. The air suddenly felt a little stuffy.

His concern made him want to answer even if he didnt know what to say.

"They didn't like me very much," he decided was enough, and Lit accepted it, nodding along.

"She just," he continued. "she says these things and she has no clue it hurts and I know it's just jokes and I should just grow up and just get over it cause I'm the man but…"

"I wish she would just...not make fun of me. And I wish she would listen to me. I just," he sighed, shutting his eyes.

"I wish she would show that she loves me. If she does."

"She's always calling me ugly and too short and too scrawny, even if I am, I," he facepalmed. "I don't wanna be reminded everyday!"

"I don't know Lit, it just," he felt a lump in his throat. "hurts."

They sat in silence after that, not making a single sound. Leo felt awful for saying all those things about his relationship, he usually wasn't one to complain. It wasn't easy to tell him everything on his mind, especially when he hadn't come to terms with his true feelings of his relationship til two weeks ago. Up til then he just let it all pile up, ignoring every minor thing that hurt him. He didn't talk about what bothered him even after realising, it just felt better to spot it in his own head.

"Am I allowed to give my opinion?" The son of King Midas broke the silence.

"Go ahead man," Leo nodded.

"You know this is...abuse...right?"

His head snapped up, eyes popping out his sockets.

"A-abuse? Nah dude, she doesn't hit me."

"Maybe not," Lit frowned. "but it's emotionally abusive, isn't it?"

Leo knew it hurt. He knew what Calypso always does to him is wrong. But abuse? Emotional abuse? 

Thinking back, she really did act like his foster families would. She said so many things to put him down, and she didn't seem to care that much for him anymore. Maybe she never did.

The more he thought of it the more it made sense. It had to be on purpose at some point, right? He knew he was abused by his "families", and if Calypso acted somewhat the same as them, wasn't that also abuse? Leo was starting to open his eyes.

"Maybe…" He agreed after that thought.

Lityerses sighed as he rested his chin on his hand. "Leo," he began. "you shouldn't have to take it just cause you're a guy, you know that right?"

The brunet boy nodded, inhaling deeply.

"And," the swordsman cleared his throat. Then, he reached for Leo's hand, brushing over his knuckles with his thumb. "I don't think you're ugly," he saw a blush creep up his cheeks and ears.

His breath caught in his throat, his pen cheeks warming up. He should say something, anything. But as he pointlessly opened and closed his mouth, the demigod realised that he didn't usually feel like this.

Of course he's held a guys hand before, for a handshake. He knew him and Lit were just friends, but it felt much different than all the other times Lit and him had interacted.

The older boy looked back at him, black eyes meeting fiery gold. Leo struggled to look away from his gaze.

"Plus, you've built some muscle, you're really not that scrawny," he half mumbled.

"And m-my height?" The mechanic had no clue where this was going, or why he was pushing this forward. He just knew that for some odd, odd reason, this was exciting.

"It's," Lit's eyes shifted frantically between Leo and the wall. "it's cute."

"Cute?" His entire body sizzled. He's the son of Hephaestus, the only one to adopt his fire abilities. You could say he's familiar with burning up, and yet Lit's comment affected him so much that he had to look down at his body to make sure it wasn't up in flames. Thankfully he had it under control.

"Look Leo," the swordsman shifted around awkwardly, clearly the younger demigod wasn't the only one feeling the tension.

"I know you're dating Calypso," the scars on his left cheek crinkled as he bit his lip. "And I know you're probably unaware of how I am, who I really am, and," as his speaking sped up, Leo felt himself lean in further. It was like a magnetic pull.

"and I don't want you to take this as me trying to convince you to break up with her or something, but I," he shook his head. "I can't stand to see you hurt all the time anymore."

"I just need you to know that-" A sharp inhale. Leo noticed he was fidgeting a lot, but he was more focussed on his eyes which hectically blinked.

"I really care about you. A-and you're not ugly, or stupid, or annoying," Lityerses got up on his knees. "You're so much more."

Leo gasped as warm lips met his own. Lit deepened the kiss as held his face in his palms, brushing his thighs against the younger's legs. He was still sitting cross legged, making him even shorter than the other. For a moment, the miss went unresponded to.

'This is real,' he told himself, then he craned his neck up, getting over the shock and holding the tan boy's face between his own hands. 

Lit parted his lips, his tongue meeting with Leo's. 

He and Calypso had done this before, making out. But this felt...different.

Rather than Calypso's bigger, softer lips, Lityerses had smaller and rougher ones, and yet they felt better than hers. Rather than feeling soft cheeks under his nose, rough scars grazed against his skin, but it still felt so right.

The darker boy sat up on his knees, but he still had to crane his neck as the older boy was over six inches taller. He wrapped his arms around his neck, humming as he deepened the kiss.

Lit sat back down, hooking his arms around his waist and bringing him onto his lap. They parted for air, pressing their foreheads together. Looking into each other's eyes felt even more intense than the last time. 

Leo leaned in to kiss him again.

"Wait, wait," the other stopped him, holding his cheek again and panting for air. "I'm not sure you wanna do this."

"I do," the younger boy insisted but Lityerses wasn't convinced 

"You're upset, you," he paused, swallowing saliva. "You're in a really bad relationship and I don't wanna make it wo-"

"Lityerses," Leo stopped him, staring into the boy's eyes. Leo may not think he's that attractive, but he knew his eyes were a beautiful shade of gold. He knew it was hard to look away.

"Yeah?" The other replied absentmindedly, his voice breathy. He stared back into his eyes and Leo knew he was absolutely hypnotized. For a second, he felt a little like Piper.

"Do I make your heart beat fast?" The younger felt a sudden wave of rare confidence

Lit nodded eagerly, "Yeah?"

"Do you wanna kiss me?" 

Lit nodded again, "Yeah?" 

"Then just kiss me."

The other boy pulled his face down, whispering, "Yeah," as he crashed their lips together again.

Leo pushed him down without breaking the kiss. Lit's hold on his waist felt like fire, his entire body was heating up. They continued to embrace each other desperately, like they've both been waiting for this moment. And maybe, unknowingly, they were.

Lityerses broke the kiss again, "Leo, Leo," he flipped them over so that the younger boys back met the mattress. "Calypso," he panted.

"What," a pause. "about her?" Leo panted just as hard, he had no doubt his face was as red as the other boys. 

"She's your girlfriend?" He reminded the other boy, a bewildered look on his face.

Suddenly the darker boy remembered her, and instantly the guilt hit him.

"Fuck."

"Yeah," Lit agreed, lying down beside the other boy. "fuck."

they sat in silence again, staring at the ceiling.

Leo thought about what just happened, how he just made out with someone other than Calypso. He cheated on her. With a guy.

His heart sped up again, both out of anxiety and some sort of happiness. Maybe he really was waiting for this somehow. It just felt so right.

"Leo?" Lityerses spoke after about five minutes.

"What's up?" He answered, looking over at the boy who had apparently been looking at him already. Leo blushed at the thought of Lityerses checking him out. At least he, for some reason, really wanted that to be the case.

"Promise me something?" 

Leo nodded.

"You'll tell Calypso how you feel, you tell her how it hurts. Try to fix it."

The other shook his head.

"Why not?"

"I don't wanna fix it, dang it," he reached for the scarred boy's hand. "I wanna break up with her."

Lit winced, "It's not because of me, is it? Because I hope that-"

Leo cut him off with another kiss. His heart soared at the contact. He pulled away shortly, but he felt the lingering sparks on his lips.

"Not to be weird but I feel more for you right now than I've ever felt for her. I don't know what it is but-"

"Leo, I don't want to rush you," Lit sighed, rubbing his face with a scarred hand.

"Hey," the younger boy sat up with his knees to his chest. "do you like me?"

The other blushed, turning his head away and pretending the carpet was apparently much more interesting.

"Y-yeah? Of course," came the answer. 

Leo grinned sheepishly, "I think I like you too," he took the boy's hand.

Lityerses sat up, confusion written on his face. Leo couldn't blame him, it's not like he had shown that he liked him at any point before now. 

Sure, he had blushed a couple times when they would lock eyes, and maybe he did feel warm when Lit would settle on his bed and listen to all his stories.

Little by little, Leo was realising that maybe, maybe it was always clear.

"Since when?" Lit asked with a shy smile. It wasn't often that the older of the two would be shy, and his smiles were usually smirks or some sort of menacing grin. The son of Midas knew how to carry himself. Jason was right of course, he was all offense. The dude was pretty macho like that.

And yet, there were times when even he would get sheepish. Maybe he would cook something well without thinking he can, and the compliments would overwhelm him. Or when Leo would scare him by accident, the boy would be a red faced mess. Though, back then he had no clue why Lit would blabber like an idiot when he came up to him unexpectedly.

Leo was really starting to wonder how he didn't catch on earlier.

The darker boy shrugged with an awkward smile, "I don't know, but I just realised." A pause. "You were always cute, though," he quickly added.

Lit let out a shocked laugh, hiding his face behind his unoccupied hand. "You think?"

"Yeah," Leo laughed right back.

He stared at his hand, eyes tracing the scars on his fingers. Lit had a lot of scars, which was expected from a fighter. One day, he'd ask how he got each one. They had that conversation a couple times, but they never quite got around to all of them. He realised that Lit taking off his shirt in the middle of the night and letting Leo trace them and ask how it felt, if it hurt, wasn't what friends usually did.

Leo realised that was pretty fucking gay.

"I didnt know I was gay," he said as he stared at the ceiling.

Up until this point he had thought they were just friends, that there was nothing between them. Though, Piper and Hazel were suspicious of them when he mentioned their close friendship.

'Leo you sure you're just friends?' Piper suspiciously questioned him that day.

'Uhhhh yeah?'

Hazel looked at him suspiciously as well, 'Doesn't sound like it." Piper nodded along.

'W-what do you mean?' Leo blushed as he turned back to his creation.

'Friends don't stay with you to listen to you talk till you fall asleep.'

The mechanic frowned, 'Uhhhh maybe YOU don't but friends do that SOMETIMES.'

Hazel smiled unsurely, 'But they usually don't.'

Leo felt his cheeks heat up further, 'Well then I guess Lit is...different,'' he had a feeling he made it worse.

'Different,' both the girl's smirked.

Leo laughed and threw his hands in the air in exasperation, 'Guys I'm dating calypso! Plus, I don't play for the other team!"

Hazel seemed confused, so Piper clarified.

'He's straight.'

The dark skinned girl hummed, 'I don't know.'

Leo stuck his tongue out at both of them, 'I love him, he's my dude, my bro, but no homo. We're just that, bros.'

'Uh huh,' the girls walked away.

Leo didn't think what he and Lit had was romantic. Sometimes he did catch the older boy staring at him, or the boy would go out of his way to ask him about his newest projects and all that stuff the brunet loved while others didn't care.

It had always brought him out of his worst moods when Lityerses would break into his room and start up a conversation about his creations and movies he liked and the technical stuff behind anything he had built for someone.

'Hey Leo, what's your new project?'

'My fave dude, what's up? Heard you watched that movie and can't stop talking about it.'

'Mind explaining what any of this means?'

Everytime, Lit seemed interested. At first Leo didn't know why, but now he got the point.

Lityerses actually, genuinely liked him. A warm, comforting feeling swirled in his stomach.

"Maybe you're bisexual?" Lit broke him out of his thoughts.

"Maybe," he answered without thinking. He'd figure it out later, somehow it didn't seem so trivial in the moment. Of course, it would hit him later and he'd freak but savouring this moment was all on his mind. 

The swordsman gave him a serious look, "Please just talk to calypso about it, okay? I don't want you and her to get even worse.'

The other boy nodded, "Okay."

"Do I mention the kiss?"

Lit turned away, blushing. He thought for a moment before hesitantly answering. "...If you want."

Leo smiled, "Okay."

After that day, the two boys felt an intense, warm tension between each other. Shy smiles, sneaky winks, subtle touches, they were secretive about it all in front of the other's.

But in private, the two were much more intimate. Inside Leo's room, or sometimes inside Lityerses room they hung out. Emmie, Jo, Cal, and the others thought they were talking about tinkering with tools and random sitcoms and battles and all that designated Lityerses-Leo stuff.

That was true, but it wasn't all.

From simple hand holding and flirting to heated make out sessions, the boys couldn't get enough of each other. 

It had only been two weeks after their first kiss, they hadn't gotten any further. Leo refused to do anything while he was dating someone else.

He had felt bad of course. Cheating on Calypso and not telling her was starting to take a toll on their relationship. While she had absolutely no clue about it, that didn't make him feel any less guilty about the ordeal. Maybe that's exactly why he felt guilty.

While he kissed Calypso or held her hand in front of the others, he could feel Lit staring down both of them. At some point, even Emmie noticed the bent fork in the older boy's hand after Leo and Cal shared a kiss at the dinner table.

So, naturally, while his girlfriend had no idea, Lityerses would kiss Leo a bit harder, a bit rougher, a bit deeper each time they were alone.

While it was all fun and shit, he knew he had to do it. But he really, REALLY didn't want to face the consequences.

But he had to do it, right? Quickly his and Lit's relationship was developing into something more than friendship. FAR more than friendship. 

"Leo, I know you don't want to," Lit started after one of their makeout sessions. "but you should talk to Calypso. I feel awful, but-"

"But you can't stop, right? I know, I know, I'm irresistible!" the other finished for him.

The older boy readjusted his black bandana, a sheepish smile on his face. "Yeah," warm lips met the darker boy's forehead.

"I don't like that she still says those things about you," he added.

Leo snorted, "Yeah I can tell, you went all ape shit, godzilla on her when she called me annoying that one day."

"I did NOT go ape shit" Lit rolled his eyes but couldn't fight back the smile on his face. He knew damn well he was a little too protective when he told Calypso to back off with the comments. 

"Either way," the son of Demeter and Midas continued. "I feel like I'm making it worse. And honestly, she hasn't gotten better either. You should talk to her."

"You mean break up with her?" Leo corrected with a smirk. Oddly, he didn't feel bad about having to do it. He just felt bad about what would happen DURING it. In short, he was a little afraid of her.

Just a little.

Lit nodded, sighing. "Yeah, break up. God!" He suddenly slapped his forehead.

"Woah dude, what did I miss?" Leo chuckled, pulling the others hand away from his forehead. 

"I feel awful," he sighed again, squeezing his eyes shut. "we're always going behind her back, it's wrong Leo."

Leo nodded, "I know."

He started feeling a bit anxious about what was to come.

So one day, Leo walked into the kitchen at the Waystation.

Lityerses sat at the big brown table carving a stick into a sharp point. Georgina stared in awe at her little toy truck on the floor and followed it around as it drove itself at her command. Leo had made it for her months ago when she had told him she was bored. The look on her face when he gave it still put a smile on his face.

At the sink stood calypso. She carefully placed the wet dishes to dry and wiped the counter, moving her hips to the song blaring from the living room. "Love Never Felt So Good" by Michael Jackson. Leo had introduced that song to her two months into their relationship. He smiled at that memory too, but the warm feeling he once felt thinking of that moment no longer lingered. It didn't even graze him.

"Hey," Lit looked up from his craft and flashed a smile, then a wink. Leo smiled back, slightly biting his lip. He broke their eye contact as he cleared his throat, hardening his face.

"Hey, uh," he rubbed his neck absentmindedly. "I don't wanna seem rude but is it okay for you and Georgina to uhm…" He could practically hear his own anxiety. Looking at Calypso, he felt a lump in his throat, a tingle between his shoulders. He felt like throwing up and he hadn't even started speaking to her yet.

'This is gonna be so bad,' he thought to himself.

Calypso smiled at her boyfriend with no hint of nervousness. Leo almost wished he was in her place. Maybe.

Well, not really.

Lit gave him a tight smile, instantly understanding what he meant. The scarred boy picked up his belongings as he led Georgina out the room, giving one last encouraging look to Leo.

As the door to the kitchen shut, the son of Hephaestus exhaled heavily. His shoulders tensed up a little more when he went around the counter that stood in the middle of the kitchen.

"Leo?" Calypso put a hand on his shoulder but he brushed it off.

"You...you might wanna sit down." Any sort of eye contact was avoided, he was already nervous and about 0.3 seconds from throwing up. If he had to look at her and say anything he might just actually do it.

"Ooookayyy," she padded over to the kitchen table, now sitting opposite of her boyfriend. The large space between them visually represented how he felt.

Now that he had her attention, Leo didn't know where to begin. He rocked the chair at the counter back and forth, debating whether he should sit down or not. Sit down and get too jittery and deal with creaks, or stand up and pass out from anxiety. 

Eventually, he took a seat. The boy fiddled with his black sweaters pockets to pretend it was important, more important than whatever he was gonna say. 

"Beautiful weather, huh?" He nervously chuckled as he readjusted his lavender headband. Courtesy of Lityerses, of course. The thought put a genuine smile on his face. 

"Leo," Atlas's daughter gave him a firm look. 

He cleared his throat after mumbling a quick apology. Love Never Felt So Good still played in the background and as he listened to the lyrics he remembered why he ever showed it to her. 

His favourite part came on,

'Cause baby, every time I love you  
It's in and out my life, in and out, baby  
Tell me, if you really love me  
It's in and out my life, driving me crazy   
Baby, love never felt so good'

He showed it to her for many reasons. Because he loved her, because he wanted her to listen to what he loved, because it just sounded good, because he thought he never felt better than when he was with her. 

Because he wanted her to tell him she really did love him.

"Leo!" She snapped him out of his thoughts.

He stared at her for a moment, forgetting why he was there to begin with.

"Are you okay?" Calypso's voice laced with concern, and for Leo that was making it all harder.

He stared at the counter for a moment, tracing the brown and beige pattern with his eyes. 

Was he okay? No. So how would he tell her that? Their entire relationship has been him lying about how he feels, bottling everything up, making jokes out of everything. 

But for once, for just one time, he wanted to be serious. He didn't wanna hide. He's had enough. 

So, he lifted his head as Michael Jackson's song continued.

"I'm tired," Leo mustered the courage to look her in the eyes.

She shrugged as she unwrapped a candy on the table, "Go to sleep?"

An inhale.

"No," the lump in his throat grew by each passing second. Everything he and Lityerses had talked about was coming back. Now, he wanted to say everything more than ever. This was his chance, the one time he gets to complain.

As he remembered all the times Calypso hurt him, the wall he built cracked more and more. It was falling, hard.

She gave him another concerned gaze but he ignored it. For once he'd ignore her emotions. With a deep sigh, he began.

"I'm tired of you."

Almost instantly she countered it. "Yeah, I could say the same," his girlfriend laughed and plopped the candy in her mouth.

Like always, he wasn't taken seriously. 

But maybe, just maybe, he could change that for once. 

"I'm not joking," ever so slightly he raised his voice, not yelling but doing his best to make his message clear.

"Apollo" by the Last Dinosaurs began to play in the next room. This was a song he hadn't shown to her, it was a recent one he discovered. Usually, he avoided any songs named after greek gods. Their egos were huge, he wasn't about to feed into it. But this one was different.

It was a song him and Lit both liked, it reminded them of the said god too. Apollo was the one to give the swordsman the second chance to redeem himself, the chance for him and Leo to connect. Really, they were grateful to him. 

Leo decided to push that thought behind, ignoring the music and instead focusing on the current conversation.

Calypso finished her candy with a raised eyebrow. "What are you talking about?"

Something inside him seemed to snap. It's not that she said anything wrong, she barely said anything. But that was the problem, it was all so slow and his anxiety was moving at a much, much quicker rate than this conversation.

He lowered his voice.

"It's everytime you fucking talk," there was no holding back now. "it hurts almost every time and I don't know what's wrong but you've been like this for a long time," get it over with now, he kept telling himself inside his head.

He glanced at her again to see she was more confused than before, hurt grazing her features. He almost felt bad, but the anxiety mixed with his pent up anger was pumping his heart much faster than the building guilt. He didn't want to upset her necessarily, but in a sense that was exactly his intention. 

He knew it was childish, he knew it was stupid. But after everything, after all the aggression and painful words she always threw at him, he was done. It's like everything she ever said suddenly came back and hit him in the face. 

"Calypso," Leo sighed as he put face in his hands. "we can't keep pretending."

"Pretending what?" Her quiet voice cracked. He had no doubt his girlfriend was flooded with anxiety, but he didn't care right now. He's had enough.

Calypso's eyes shined with tears when he uncovered his face. He remembered when once, those eyes made him happy. He remembered when once, she made him feel better. But not anymore.

"I don't love you anymore."

The clock on the wall ticked as loud as Leo's heart. Time seemed to move in slow motion, every second stretching longer than the last. He watched his soon to be ex girlfriend's expressions go from shock to realisation to confusion again.

Reality was crushing down on her. Hard.

He refused to look away from her eyes and for the first time, his gaze was stern and hard. He knew it, the look in calypso's eyes told him he wasn't his usual self. She was looking at a stranger, like she had never even known Leo. And maybe, she didn't.

"What? Leo…" A tear rolled down her cheek, falling onto the table before her. She shook her head in disbelief.

"You don't love me either-"

"I do-"

"No!" He stood up and slammed his hands on the table. He had enough lies, enough cover ups, enough hiding.

"You never loved me, calypso," he spat as his head hung low, his hands still on the table. "never."

She got up too, striding to him behind the counter. She pulled him into a hug, embracing him tightly and digging her fingers into his back. That annoyed him.

"Leo I do love you, I-"

"If you loved me," he yanked himself free, holding her wrists at an arm's length away. He made sure he didn't hold too tight to hurt her, but just enough to keep her away. "you wouldn't hurt me all the fucking time."

Then, Calypso got angry. "What are you even talking about?" She yanked herself free.

"Gee, I don't know!" He threw his arms up and paced the kitchen. 

"Maybe whenever you comment on how ugly you think I am? Maybe it's because you never listen- you don't care about anything I care about! Maybe it's because you just insult me all the time-"

"They're just jokes!" She yelled back "Just stupid fucking jokes like how you make stupid jokes-"

He spun back around and scoffed loudly. She couldn't understand how different that was?

"I make jokes about how much I hate myself, not how much YOU suck. Which, you fucking do, by the way."

She scoffed back although Leo could see it hurt her. "That's the best you can do?"

He inhaled deeply, biting his lip in anger. She was testing him.

He couldn't keep letting her win, he's allowed it for so long. He's allowed all the pain, all the hits, every little thing she's thrown. No matter how minor, the small things built up.

"Calypso don't make it harder on me."

"Okay," she gave a sarcastic smile and stomped over to the kitchen door. "I'll make it fucking easy since you can't."

That angered him more. "Oh, I can make it fucking easy."

"Okay," she smiled wider. "Then do it. What else do you have to say?"

He fake smiled this time, "One, I hope it's clear that we're over." 

"Yup." 

"Two, you're a horrible fucking person and I should've left you on that island."

Leo knew he struck a chord when her face went from smug to shocked. For their entire relationship he talked about how much he didn't regret rescuing her, how it was his best choice. 

In all honesty, he was lying to himself for a long time. Looking for a distraction, looking for something to hold on. Maybe he convinced himself to love her all together.

Calypso crossed her arms, tears welling up in her eyes again. Leo didn't feel bad. He was just getting started.

"Three, I can see why Percy barely cared. Or any other dude for that matter, I was the only one dumb enough to follow through my promise."

Her chin quivered and she flinched.

"Four, you know who you remind me of?" He pretended to think. "My nasty foster families, and Hera who hated me!"

A tear rolled down her cheek again, but she refused to look away.

"Five, I've been cheating on you."

The song chose the perfect time to stop playing. Silence filled the room for the longest ten seconds in Leo's life. Shortly, "Blondie" by Current Joy's blared through. A song he loved, but now it felt out of place.

There it was. He said it. There was truly no going back, no backing out. This was the end of it, if he ever regretted breaking up with her he wouldn't get her back. He found he didn't mind that, it wasn't even a concern.

"What?" Calypso whispered and he could hear the heartbreak. 

The mechanic continued anyways, laughing tiredly. He must've looked insane.

"Yeah, that's how tired I am of you. That's how much I hate you at this point," Calypso's tears fell faster, harder, and she stared at him like he was the worst person on the planet.

It made him think for a second. He had cheated on her, and yet he kept talking about how horrible she was. Maybe he had a reason, maybe he thought it was justified. But as she continued to stare at him with those sad eyes like he was awful,

He was starting to feel like it.

"Who?" She asked in a hushed town, sneering at him.

He wanted to answer. He wanted to tell her so badly how he and Lit had developed their own relationship. He needed her to know the truth, just to get it out. It'd be easier if she just knew now and everything would be over with.

But he couldn't. He still didn't know his sexuality. Gay? Bisexual? Pansexual? He had no clue, he had no idea just what and who he was attracted to. He just knew that Calypso hurt him, while Lityerses didn't.

Even if he knew what his sexuality was, it's not like he would blurt it out to the world. If the word got out he wouldn't know what to do and just thinking of it raised his anxiety.

Lityerses told him he could say it, that it was okay. But Leo found he couldn't even trust Calypso anymore.

So, he didn't tell her.

"It doesn't matter."

In a flash she was in front of him. He blinked and her hand met his face. 

Leo brought his hand up to his cheek, feeling the skin underneath burn up.

Calypso's tears flowed down her face, her hand still in the air. The titans hair hung loosely around her shoulders, also sticking to her face from the tears. Red strained her cheeks and nose from anger and crying. Her eyes held fury and hurt, forming cringles around her cheeks and chin. He'd never seen her so angry.

And yet, it didn't scare him. He remembered when Lit had told him this was abuse, this relationship. 'But she doesn't hit me' he told him. But now, that wasn't quite true.

That struck a chord.

"Huh," Leo smirked, "it was emotional abuse first, now it's physical?" 

"It's just a fucking slap- you cheated on me!" Her voice cracked.

"So you hit me for the failure of our relationship? Now you really remind me of Hera," he shoved past her, stuffing his hands in his pockets and ignoring his aching cheek.

She lowered her hand, instead covering her mouth as realisation set in over what she had just done.

"L-Leo-"

"Stay away."

"No, wait, I'm sorry!"

Calypso followed him as he strode down the hall. 

She grabbed his wrist, "Leo, I'm so sor-"

"Don't touch me!!" He whipped around and yanked himself free of her grasp. She jumped back, yelping louder than Leo expected. He felt his entire body heat up with anger 

"Calypso, it's done! I've had enough I'm so serious I've had enough of every-"

He stopped his rambling. His now ex girlfriend stared at his hand with wide eyes, her mouth agape, and her skin pale. She looked absolutely terrified.

The boy followed her gaze, looking down at his hand which he could now see was completely aflame. A little further and he could see it was his entire body.

The hazel haired girl started backing up, her hand on her chest. Eventually, she turned around and speed walked out of the hallway and into her room, the terrified look never leaving her face.

He let her.

-

The mechanic's room was pitch black, it's only source of light being the moon shining through the window and illuminating his creations on the table.

Silence filled the room, the only sound being the music from the living room.

To Be Loved by Aurora.

This was a song he had listened to a month prior, when he realised for the first time just how much it hurt when Calypso would say such mean things to him.

'Waking up, thinking of what it is to be loved  
Should I know on my own, on a road  
What it is to be loved?'

Thinking of what he thought was love, he felt silly. He thought she loved him, that they were perfectly fine. But they weren't.

"That's so stupid, Leo." To one of his imaginations.

"Yeah, that's cool." Without looking.

"Can you stop?" When he would be excited and hyper. 

"Yeah we're together, kinda." When someone would bring up their relationship.

And the first time they met, she wanted him gone quicker than any other man she had met on that damn island Ogygia.

When he was happy, she barely showed any care.

When he was sad, nothing. No comfort, no assurance. Nothing.

That's not love.

He had spent so much time, so many days, so many hours with her. He picked her over his friends, almost died for her, did everything he could just to make sure she was okay and happy and content. He regretted it all.

Their argument, or, break up, reminded him of his family. The multiple foster families, the abuse he went through then too, it was all coming back.

As he lay there, wide awake, he began to feel a hole in his chest warp him. It grew and grew and grew with each line as the song in the living room went on.

'I tell myself I have to build defenses   
Cause once you are in love you are defenseless  
Everything was easy when it meant less  
But once you are in love you are defenseless'

Leo remembered the walls he built, how hard he tried to protect himself from the world. And though he let someone in, let someone hold him and love him, or try to, and they hurt and disappointed and destroyed him, that wall was staying down. 

It was staying down for Lityerses, who he now more than ever wanted to be with.

Tears rolled down his cheeks and onto the pillows and bed sheets. He was so fucking tired.

Enough walls. Enough hiding. It hurt to open himself up to someone, but it hurt more to stay quiet. It hurt more for his pain to go unnoticed. It hurt more to pretend it was alright. So he cried it out.

The door creaked open and light filled the room. His back was turned, but he could already tell who it was. And yet, his crying wouldn't stop as more tears spilled.

"Leo?" Lityerses called out. The door shut with a soft click behind him as he carefully padded over to the boy on the bed.

"Yeah?" His voice cracked and he hated himself for it.

The bed dipped as the older boy sat down, placing a hand on his shoulder. 

"I," he began but couldn't quite continue. Leo's shoulders continued to shake no matter how hard he tried to control it, tears still flowing onto the pillow.

"I heard some things," the scarred boy whispered as he rubbed his shoulder.

Leo chuckled sadly, "Yeah? You think it went well?"

He sniffled, curling into himself a little more. The next part of the song was playing.

'Nobody shows me  
Nobody shows me  
How it's like to be loved  
How it's like to be loved  
I take flight but you hold me  
And is that how you show me  
How it's like to be loved?  
How it's like to be loved'

He felt his face contort and his hold on his sweater tightened. The song was just making him feel worse.

"I," Lityerses began again, "I can leave if you wan-"

"No!"

Leo finally turned around to face him. The older boy's black hair was dripping, probably from a shower. The Reaper of Men wore a frown from what he could see in the dark, some of his bigger white scars showed through as well.

"Please," the younger demigod looked down. "stay."

Lit lifted Leo's face, pressing their lips together. He held his face in both his hands. The brunet boy smiled as he held back a sob, he already loved when the boy would hold him like he was fragile. And now, it was both comforting and painful as the song's lyrics filled his mind.

The bed dipped further as the black haired boy lowered himself beside Leo. He quickly threw the blanket over both of them without breaking the kiss, now holding him in his arms by the waist with one hand and face with the other.

Leo's crying calmed down as he melted into the kiss, his tongue meeting with the other boys. The kiss intensified as he placed a hand over Lit's own which held his face, pressing it further against his skin. 

His other hand gripped the back of neck, craning his neck up further 

While he was enjoying the kiss, he suddenly remembered a relationship he had just ended.

"Lit," he pulled back, gasping for air. "I just broke up with her."

The paler boy pushed his hair out his face, pulling the bandana off. "Do you need time?"

Leo shook his head, for some reason feeling more tears fill his eyes. "No, stay," he hugged the person who made his heart beat faster everyday. As he thought about their relationship with each other, he slowly realised he was falling in love.

Slowly, but surely, he was falling hard. 

He just got out of a painful, even traumatizing relationship. But that didn't make him want to stop with Lityerses, he was just scared. Scared that he'd get hurt again. His breathing came out unevenly from crying.

He could feel Lit tighten his hold on him. Leo inhaled, breathing in the smell of the boy's body wash. The familiar scent comforted him, calming his uneven breathing.

He was the first person. The first person that made him feel like someone was holding him because they cared. Not because they had to, not because they felt bad for him.

But because they wanted to. 

Because Lityerses actually wanted him.

The waterworks broke again, fresh tears welling up in his eyes. A quiet squeak escaped him as he held back a sob.

For once, being held felt like being loved.

The scarred boy tightened his hold on his waist, pressing his entire body against Leo's even more as he tangled their legs together. 

"It'll be okay," he whispered into his hair, kissing it.

Leo let out another sob, stifling it against Lit's chest.

"I-I," he bagan shakily. "I got upset a-and...I almost set her on fire," he winced. "I didn't mean to!" 

Lityerses pushed back his dark curls, kissing his temple. "It's okay, Leo. She's okay, you're okay. Everything will be fine, it's okay," he kept assuring him.

And Leo, who continued to cry out his sorrows, squeezed his waist like he was a lifeline.

He had told Lityerses about his mother and how she had died before they started their secret makeouts. The swordsman knew that for many years Leo thought he murdered his mother in a fire, before finding out Hera caused it. It didn't stop Leo from still blaming himself, or just remembering the tragedy all the time.

Almost burning Calypso, being that close to easily killing her, he was reminded of his mother. 

He wanted to throw up.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Leo pulled away, wiping his tears with the front of his sleeve. "I don't wanna cry anymore." He didn't want to remember anymore.

Lityerses pushed his hands away and wiped his face for him. The younger of the two smiled sadly, despite the situation it was nice to be held by the one he truly cared for.

Leo didn't want to move so fast past his relationship with Calypso, but he found that more than anything he wanted to be with Lit.

So he leaned in, capturing the others lips between his own. 

After a long, deep kiss, they both pulled away and rested their foreheads together.

"Lityerses?" 

"Yeah?" He gasped for air.

"I really, really like you," he hid his face in his chest, which vibrated as the older boy hummed.

"I really like you too."

A tense silence fell over them. Neither boy knew how to continue, Instead they embraced each other and took in every inch of their bodies pressed together. 

The only sound heard was that of the radio in the next room. Now, conveniently, a love song played. This one Leo did know. The lyrics brought heat up to his cheeks and ears, and he was sure it had the same effect on Lit as the boy holding him nuzzled his face further into his hair. That made him smile.

'What have we got lips for  
What have we got arms for  
Why do we have stars above?  
Oh you know, I know  
Everything's made for love'

Perfect timing, wasn't it? The lyrics reminded Leo of the difference between Calypso and Lityerses.

Leo was taller than the girl, about 2 inches more. It wasn't a big difference, so when he held her it was a little uncomfortable. He always wanted to be a bit taller.

But now as Lityerses holds him, he realises he likes being on the short side. The son of Midas was insanely muscular, he had strong arms, a strong chest, strong everything. He was very obviously bigger than Leo. Not to mention their height difference. While the stronger of the two was 6 feet, the short mechanic was only 5'6. So yeah, Lityerses towered over him like a mountain.

And so when they held each other, Leo felt even smaller than usual. Absolutely tiny. And somehow, by some miracle, he didn't feel bad about it for once.

"Lit?" 

"Yeah?"

"Let's say, hypothetically, that you had to date me," Leo chuckled awkwardly. "would you?"

The black haired boy pulled away as he laughed, leaning down and kissing his forehead. "Yeah, I would."

"Thennnn," the brunet bit his lip with a sheepish smile. "Do you want to be my boyfriend?" He laughed, he felt kinda dumb and awkward asking that. He faked his confidence literally all the time, he really wasn't as smooth as he wanted to be. Somehow, he was okay with that with Lityerses.

The older boy frowned, holding his face with one hand and his hand with the other. "Are you sure? You just broke up with her," he reminded.

"Yeah," Leo kissed his scarred cheek. "I'm sure of it." And he was, he really was. Even if he just broke up with Calypso, he was sure he wanted Lit for two weeks now. After all, his walls were down and there was no point building them up to block out his best friend, his crush. He had enough of that.

"Then yeah," Lityerses pecked him on the lips three times, making Leo blush further and laugh harder. "I'll be your boyfriend," he smiled, then grinned menacingly. "dude," he added.

The two boys both burst out laughing, hitting each other to be quiet to not wake everybody up.

For the rest of the night, Leo couldn't help but think that despite everything he's been through, he was incredibly lucky.

**Author's Note:**

> sooooo
> 
> i love this ship yupyup
> 
> the only ship ever
> 
> youll be seeing more of it shortly


End file.
